1. Technical Field
The technology disclosed herein relates to a video recording apparatus configured to record a plurality of channels of video data in a manner to associate the plurality of channels of video data with each other for these channels, and a video reproducing apparatus configured to reproduce a plurality of channels of video data that have been recorded in a manner to be associated with each other for different channels.
2. Background Information
Multipoint shooting, such as three-dimensional shooting, uses a plurality of pieces of video data obtained through different channels. As the video processing technology advances, techniques for processing such multiple-channel video data have become common. The visual reality of images can be improved with these techniques. In three-dimensional shooting, for example, a plurality of pieces of video data are obtained using a twin-lens camera or two cameras. The obtained two-channel video data is then subjected to video processing to form a three-dimensional video. To subject such multiple-channel video data (for example, two pieces of video data obtained and recorded simultaneously using two cameras in three-dimensional shooting) to video processing, the pieces of video data obtained through the different channels need to be associated with each other for the channels in an appropriate manner.
With one method, a plurality of data elements (materials) forming video data may be associated with each other using identifiers unique to the data elements. For example, International Publication No. 2003/092304 describes a technique used for a video recording apparatus that records a plurality of pieces of video data obtained at multiple points onto a single medium. With the technique described in International Publication No. 2003/092304, different IDs corresponding to reference points that have been used to obtain the plurality of pieces of video data are added to the pieces of video data.
To reproduce, edit, or process a plurality of pieces of video data simultaneously, a plurality of video outputs may be synchronized with each other using information for synchronization, such as time codes. With a method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H4-040184, for example, time codes for synchronizing fames of video data are multiplexed with compressed image data for divisional images and recorded together with the image data. When video data is reproduced, a plurality of video outputs are synchronized with each other by referring to the multiplexed time codes.
Among various data elements such as files, the above conventional structure fails to easily specify, when reproducing video data, data elements that correspond to each other (for example, files recorded at the same timing in a synchronized manner). As a result, the conventional structure requires complicated processing for reproducing video data.